by Tiffani Lynn
She steps away from the microphone and Sean, the father, kisses her strawberry-blond hair before wrapping his arm around her and posing for a camera with a giant check.
Once all that is over, they descend from the stage and stop as Thomas, who is still standing by the stairs, says something to them. He passes them a card, says a few words and the Barneses walk away with a smile.
I wonder what he said to make them smile like that. My focus returns to him and I realize he’s still smiling too. Hmmm. I definitely wish I were a fly on the wall for that conversation. Natalia descends the stage and he follows her back to her seat, pulling the chair out and helping her scoot back in. She pats the seat next to her with a grin and a few words and he smiles back with a shake of his head, returning to his position against the wall. I find it strange that he’d rather stand against the wall than sit next to his date.
“It won’t be long until that woman comes over here to claw your eyes out. You can’t take your eyes off of her man,” Luci leans in and whispers in my ear.
“I’m not staring,” I huff, knowing full well I am. Damn, I’m wasn’t very sly about it.
Terrible date. Terrible date. We had a terrible date. I chant to myself on repeat.
After another 30 minutes of presentations and recognitions, the lights on the stage lower and the music starts. People move to the wooden rectangle dance floor in front of the stage in the middle of the room, and the liquor starts flowing again. Luci and I stand, and before she drags me to the bathroom for an update, our favorite song comes on, saving me. We get out on the dance floor and finally turn this into a party, enjoying ourselves as we dance and sing like we always do at these things. All is well until Harris Edward—an up-and-coming Hollywood star—starts to grind on me in a way that’s a little too aggressive and a whole lot annoying. It only takes a minute for Luci to figure out that I’m irritated before she grabs my hand and pulls me off the dance floor and into the bathroom.
Although I’m thankful to get away from that guy, I’m not ready for the questions I’m going to face from Luci about Thomas. I know I should’ve told her before. She’s gonna be pissed that I kept all this juicy gossip to myself.
When we reach the fancy bathroom with brocade wallpaper and ornate gold fixtures, she checks under the stalls and waits for the last woman to exit the room. We pretend to fix our lipstick in the mirror as the woman washes her hands. When the door closes behind the woman, Luci’s inquisition begins.
“How do you know him?”
I think hard about giving evasive answers, but I know my best friend will ride me like a jockey on a racehorse until I tell her the truth.
“He’s the one-night stand I texted you I was with that night. Okay? Are you happy?”
“What!” she shouts. “Are you kidding?”
My shoulders drop and I shake my head.
“I’ve been dying to hear about that night. I thought I was going to have to wait another six months and get you super drunk to get answers.”
“Could we quit talking about this? I’m so embarrassed.”
“No way! I’ve had several one-night stands over the years, but you, Miss Goody Two-shoes, never did until that night. Now you’re trying to deny me the juicy details? No way. It’s a best friend’s right to get the 411. Now spill!” Her hands are on her hips and she’s not going to back down.
Heaving a sigh, I reply, “Fine. I’ll give you the simplified version.”
“Please don’t tell me it was horrible. It had to be though, right? If it wasn’t terrible, you’d be out there talking to him instead of in here fidgeting and stalling.”
“That’s the problem. It wasn’t bad. It was soooooooo good. Great. Spectacular. Multi-orgasmic. Like, the best I’ve ever had and will probably ever have. It was that awesome,” I whine.
“Then what’s the problem? You look amazing, go over there and work your charm on him. If it was that good for you, I’m sure he felt the same and will probably be willing to take a spin on the Simone Express all over again. You could use a few orgasms. You’re wound too tight.”
Rolling my eyes, I reply, “It’s not that easy.”
Luci grabs my arm and starts to drag me out of there. Oh no! I snatch my arm back and plant my feet. “There’s more.”
“How much more? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Well…” I stall, not wanting to talk about it. She reaches for me again and I shake my head and decide to just spit it out. “I went on a blind date with the guy. Thomas, his name is Thomas. Turns out he’s Summer Arden Wade’s brother-in-law. She set us up. None of us realized that he and I had already met in the biblical sense. It was the worst date of my life, and his too, I’m sure. It was so embarrassing. The whole thing was a mess and now I can’t face him, especially since he’s here with that famous supermodel.”
Luci’s eyes are like saucers and her mouth is wide open. “Oh shit. How bad is that going to screw up your friendship with Summer?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been avoiding her calls. Most of the issues on the date were my fault and I don’t want to relive them at all, especially in the bathroom of an event Thomas is attending with another woman. Please, Luci,” I beg.
She sighs. “Okay, fine. I get it. You’re not getting off too easy, though, because I expect you to give me full details of both the one-night stand and the blind date over a bag of chips and a glass of wine as soon as we get home. For now, though, you’re going to go out there, strut your sexy stuff and pretend like he doesn’t exist. He will notice you and he will be sorry he screwed up the date.”
“Luci,” I protest, ready to remind her it was me who screwed up the date, not him, but she cuts me off.
“No! No more words from you until after. For now, turn on your Simone Sayer charm. That’s a best friend order!” she snaps, with her hands in fists on her hips.
“Fine,” I grumble as I shuffle out of the bathroom behind her.
Her plan for the evening is instantly foiled when we come out of the ladies’ room to find Thomas Wade leaning casually against the wall across the hall as if he’s waiting for someone. Several things run through my mind all at once. First, his date wasn’t in that bathroom so he has no reason to be standing there. Second, I think through the etiquette on this. Can I get away with ignoring him and walking past like he’s not even there? Would it be better to say hi and keep walking like I’m in a hurry? Or is the best option to stop and talk to him for a second like a decent human being? Or, my favorite, very twisted and least likely option, is rushing past Luci, taking a flying leap into his arms and laying a kiss on him that says take me to your room and give me all you’ve got again. Good Lord, I’m a mess. I’m just glad no one can see the thought bubble above my head. They’d probably have me committed to an asylum.
The fog of lust only clears a little after I shake my head, so I decide to go with the decent human being route and stop to say hello. He is Summer’s brother-in-law and it’s likely I’ll see him again in the future when I see her, and I don’t want it to be completely awkward. Better to get it out of the way now than in front of their whole family.
“Hey, Thomas.” I lift my hand and wiggle my fingers at him. That was totally cheesy. I’m an idiot. Luci stops and flashes him her 100-watt smile and a little sliver of jealousy slips into my gut. “I’m Luciana, Simone’s best friend.”
“Thomas Wade,” he responds as he shakes her hand, smiling just as big at her as she is at him. Grrrr. Where is Titus when I need him? Their contact wouldn’t be this friendly if he were here.
“How are you, Simone?” He redirects his attention to me and loses the smile.
“I’m, ah, doing, ah, well.” I’ve never been a person who stumbles over her words. I’m usually well-spoken and confident. Right now, I sound ridiculous.
Luci grips my arm excitedly when a door to the ballroom opens and dance music spills out. “I’ll see you back inside; I hear my jam!” The music coming from the ballroom is upbeat, but it’s n
ot her song, she’s just trying to leave me here with him. Time to kill my bestie!
“Luci,” I warn, but she winks and walks away.
“Bye, Thomas!” she calls over her shoulder.
I glance back to Thomas, who is studying me closely. “Are you here with her?” he inquires.
“Yes, she lives here and invited me because her boyfriend is out of town.” His eyes search my face and I can’t figure out what he’s searching for.
About that time a gaggle of women walks past us into the bathroom, eyeing Thomas up and down like he’s a juicy roast beef sandwich. My eyes narrow on them and my shoulders tense as my hackles rise. Why does their attention on him irritate me so much? He’s not my man and we clearly didn’t get along when we were outside of the bedroom. These little spurts of jealousy are driving me crazy.
Thomas locks eyes with me, touches his ear and speaks lower, and although he’s looking at me, he’s not talking to me, which is confusing. “Copy that. I’m going to be a few more minutes. Just stay with her.” Then he glances around the empty hallway, grabs me by the arm, not rough, but firm, and pulls me into a side room that looks like it’s used for storage and closes the door.
“What are you do—” I don’t get to finish because his mouth is on me, pushing his tongue between my lips. I allow him in but don’t reciprocate at first because I’m too shocked. He pulls back and asks, “Why do you have to be so damn sexy?”
I’m shocked, to say the least. Natalia is a supermodel for goodness sake and she’s here with him and he’s in a freaking broom closet telling me how sexy I am. I can’t decide if I’m lucky or cursed, but when his smoldering gaze pins me in place, my body explodes with white-hot desire the likes of which I haven’t experienced since our night at the hotel. My lips connect with his and this time I slip my hands up under his tuxedo coat and around his back, holding him to me. The dang tuxedo shirt is in the way but his body still feels good. It stokes the fire within, absorbing the lust radiating off of him.
Pulling back a little, he slides his hand up to cradle my jaw. “Worst date of my life was with you. Thought I never wanted our paths to cross again, but then you waltzed through the door in that fucking amazing dress and all I could think about was that night in the hotel. Flashes of your skin, your long legs, your tight ass and those eyes. It just won’t stop. My mind is begging me to make you moan again. Then I could hear your voice and your laughter above the music and that was even better.
“I’m supposed to be guarding Natalia and all I can think about is your tan body against my white sheets. You’re crazy beautiful, so sexy and irresistible.” He trails off at the end of his statement with a kiss to my jaw and then little ones that move further down and around to that small spot behind my ear that sends an electric current pulsing through my body and between my legs spiraling out of control. I lift my leg on the side with the slit and hook it on his hip. He hardens even more beneath me and I moan a little, ready for some kinky closet action.
“You’re guarding her?” My voice is all breathy and confused.
“Yeah. Did you think she was my date?”
“What else was I supposed to think? You’re in a tux, she’s beautiful, you were walking with her...” I trail off, unsure of what else to say.
“Bodyguard duty. That’s it. My partner is with her right now so I could come see you.” His lips return to my neck, working their way down, and I shiver.
Suddenly Thomas pauses and stands upright, clears his throat and presses his ear again.
“Yeah, Hudson.”
“Fine. Yeah, okay. Copy that.”
A few curse words snap from his lips and he dips me hard, laying a brief kiss on my lips. “I’m so sorry. I’m working and Hudson needs me so I have to go. I’m working for a few days here in town. We have unfinished business. I’ll call you.”
“But…” I don’t get to finish.
“I know what you’re going to say, but don’t say it. We can talk more later. I have to go.”
What does he think I’m going to say? I want to say we’re a bad match, we already know that. If I sleep with him again, I’ll officially be a slut because we already know we aren’t dating material. He rushes out the door, leaving me standing in the storage room wondering what happened just now. How in the world did we go from disliking each other after the worst date ever, to practically having sex in the store room closet of a charity gala in Miami? The whole thing is bizarre and I’m glad we were stopped. I would’ve made a huge mistake by having sex with him again. It’s bad enough that it happened once before, and it was so damn fantastic that I can’t forget a single moment of it. If I remade that mistake, I’d probably never be able to look at myself in the mirror again.
8
Thomas
Dragging Simone into that janitor’s closet probably wasn’t the wisest idea when Josiah Brown is paying us to protect Natalia, but watching her move on the dance floor and then smelling her sweet perfume when I was close enough to talk to her pushed me over the edge. The chemistry between is too strong to ignore and I should have realized that sooner, even with the bad date. Having that kind of connection with a woman is rare and worth giving it a couple more dates to see how things go.
Hudson is not a man who gets alarmed easily so when he asked me to return to the ballroom I knew something must be up. As I approach, I realize Hudson is perched closer to Natalia than I was when I left. “What’s up, man? You’re practically breathing down her throat. She asked us to give her a little space.”
“The only reason I called you back here is because something’s up. I don’t know what exactly, but something’s going on. Two different waiters have been out of the kitchen twice with nothing in their hands. They don’t do anything and they don’t talk to anyone. They stand on opposite sides of the room and observe. I don’t like it. I’m going to do some scouting; keep your eyes open and stay close to her.” I nod and he leaves out the door I just came through. I didn’t even notice the men he’s talking about, probably because I was so sidetracked by Simone.
Fifteen minutes slide by before I see one of the waiters that Hudson was talking about. There’s nothing special about the guy. In fact, he could be any other guy in the place. Caucasian, about five foot eleven, skinny, short dark hair, but those heavy eyebrows don’t fit with this crowd. The men at this affair are all ones who probably have their eyebrows trimmed, plucked or waxed. The scruffy black sneakers he’s wearing instead of black dress shoes with his uniform stand out like a sore thumb.
I contact Hudson. “Got eyes on one of them now. South side of the ballroom, standing back observing. Bushy eyebrows and scruffy black sneakers that don’t match the rest of the staff.”
“Yup, that’s one of them. The other guy looks like him but with bad skin. I’ll be back that way in a couple of minutes. There’s a truck out back that wasn’t there during my last lap around.”
“Copy that.”
Natalia has added more people to her dancing circle and although I stay off the dance floor, I’m closer to the edge than I was before. I can’t shake the feeling that something big is about to go down. As I’m scanning the crowd, I lock on to Simone again. Two guys have joined them and they’re only one group over now. Simone’s hips sway to the music while her arms are raised in the air. She’s totally in the zone and garnering more attention than I’m comfortable with. I refocus on Natalia before scanning the room around us again. Mr. Eyebrows is nowhere in sight. This should make me feel better, but it doesn’t. The hair on my neck rises and I glance around quickly and push closer to Natalia on the dance floor.
The couple from Crystal River, along with Morgan and Nick, are in the group between Natalia and Simone and they all seem to be spreading out a little further as people add to the dance floor when a more popular song is played. As I’m trying to figure out a way to get Simone and Luci closer to the group with Natalia, the distinct sound of an AK-47 firing in the small space tears through the place. Screams and panic buzz a
round in the suddenly frenzied beehive of the ballroom. I dive through the crowd and pull Natalia and her friend to the ground. The machine gun goes off again and I yell, “Crawl with me. I half cover her as we crawl toward the last place I saw Simone. A man yells for everyone to freeze but we keep going until I reach Simone, who is sitting up and leaning over her friend, who is curled up on the floor.
“Simone! Get down,” I urge and push her down in front of me.
She glances back to me and the fear on her face is heartbreaking. “Stay still and try to be quiet,” I tell her. We’re in the middle of the crowd, now cowed on the floor. Natalia is behind me and Simone and her friend are in front of me.
A second guy comes out from the kitchen and waves his AK-47 in front of the people on the other side of the dance floor. Shit, how do I deal with this?
Hudson’s urgent voice is in my ear. “Is that gunfire?”
I click on my speaker and glance around before I quietly respond, “Several people are hit. They’ve herded us to the center of the dance floor. We’ve got two gunmen, eyebrows and bad skin. No idea how many more are out there.”
“Copy that. I’m locked out. I’ll be on the phone with Miami PD. Hang tight.”
I turn my head to look behind me. “Natalia, are you okay?” I feel her hands hold tighter to my coat.
“Yes,” she says quietly, but I can feel her hands shaking against my back.
I turn back and move my focus down to Simone and I see blood on the floor. My stomach clenches. “Simone, are you hit?” I whisper, trying not to draw attention to us.
She looks up at me as tears rush down her face while her lower lip trembles. “No, but Luci is...on her side.”
The two gunmen are circling the group with their guns pointed at us, occasionally yelling for people to scoot closer together. “Throw your phones here,” Mr. Eyebrows shouts at the group.
I take that moment to issue some orders to the women around me. “Nat, stay down and behind me. Curl up the best you can so I’m your shield. Simone, lean back so Luci can show me her wound.” She leans down and talks quietly to Luci, and then she leans away so Luci can roll a little bit. A big, dark bloody spot is spreading across her side. That location could be semi-safe or really bad. “Simone, put pressure on it. Use my coat.” I pull my coat off and out of Natalia’s grip and pass it to Simone. Natalia latches on to my tuxedo shirt this time.